Eee PC line to gain gamer-friendly graphics chip

Why, oh why?

Asus has let slip that it's working on an Eee PC netbook with a discrete graphics chip for all you gamers who want to play the latest titles on the move without having to lug a 15in Alienware around.

That, apparently, is what a company spokesman said recently, bizarre as it may seem.

Details are scarce, so it's impossible to say whether the company's considering an 8.9in model or a 10in machine. The latter seems more likely, not for the screen size per se but because it'll need the bigger chassis space for the extra cooling a half-decent discrete GPU is going to require.

Asus Eee PC 1002HA: really better for games than a 15in laptop?

We're not entirely sure we see the point. Larger Small, Cheap Computers are already criticised for being worse value than a cheap 15in notebook, and adding a powerful GPU is only going to make that worse.

The only advantage the machine would offer the gamer is weight - and that's offset by the smaller screen, weaker CPU and probably lesser battery life, when compared to a typical low-cost 15-incher.

What such a plan - if it ever comes to fruition - reveals is Asus' desperation to try absolutely any scheme to try and sell more Eees. Fair enough, of course, not least because the SCC family has provided the Taiwanese manufacturer with its first real mainstream success, which is also improving the perception of the broader Asus brand in the West.

The risk is that such a strategy dilutes what the Eee brand is all about, something not helped by the vast array of different models the company currently offers. One more, this time with a discrete GPU, will not make much difference to that, we suppose.